From Talking to Texting, Americans Fess Up to Dangerous
Driving Behaviors Despite Recognizing that They're Unsafe

NEW YORK--June 19, 2014: All over the country, grills are heating,
drinks cooling and long-ago-planned vacations are fast approaching. For
those reading these annual touchstones like so many iced tea leaves, all
signs point to summer – even if its official start date isn't until
June 21.

While summer brings with it many things to celebrate, it's a time to be
on alert as well. All those summer road trips add up to a whole lot of cars
on the road. Couple that with summer being the most dangerous time of year
for teen car accidents, and you realize the importance of keeping both eyes
on the road. So how are Americans doing? When it comes to knowing what
behaviors are dangerous behind the wheel, Americans have most of their
facts straight. When it comes to actually avoiding those behaviors though,
a clear disconnect continues to exist between the dangers Americans
acknowledge and what they do anyway.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,045 adults
surveyed online between May 27 and 29, 2014. (Full findings, including data
tables, available here)

Eyes wide open

Nearly all Americans believe driving after having three or more drinks
(94%) is dangerous or very dangerous, while two-thirds say the same of
getting behind the wheel after 1-2 drinks (68%). More than nine in ten
Americans believe sending (94%) and reading (91%) texts while driving is
dangerous or very dangerous, though in a separate line of questioning,
Americans are split on whether it's OK to check texts while stopped at a
red light (with 51% agreeing and 49% disagreeing).

Seven in ten (69%) perceive talking on a hand-held cell phone while
driving as dangerous; far fewer (36%) say the same of having a hands-free
cell phone conversation while driving, though many studies have refuted the
idea that this is any safer than holding a phone while gabbing behind the
wheel.

Risky Business

But of course, knowing something is dangerous doesn't necessarily mean
avoiding it. Despite majorities knowing that talking on a cell phone is
dangerous, three-fourths of drivers with cell phones say they ever do so
(74%), with two in ten (21%) saying they do so frequently. Additionally,
strong minorities say they ever read text messages (45%; 15% frequently) or
send text messages (37%; 14% frequently). Among those with smartphones or
tablets, over one-third ever use such devices to look things up while
driving (36%; 12% frequently).

More troubling still, these habits are especially common among
Millennials. Roughly one-fourth of drivers with cell phones from this
generation frequently talk on a cell phone (28%), read text messages (27%)
and send texts (24%) while driving.

Americans copped to other distracted driving behaviors as well,
including just over one in four who admit to ever engaging in personal
grooming while driving (27%), 24% who say they've posted to social media,
19% who've read a book, magazine or newspaper and 13% who have watched a
video on a smartphone or tablet while behind the wheel.

And despite the vast majority of Americans saying driving after drinking
is dangerous, 37% of those who drink alcohol say they've driven at a time
when they'd likely had too much to drink and three in 10 (30%) agree that
they are more likely to get behind the wheel after a few drinks if they
only have to drive a short distance.

Along for the Ride

Americans are also failing to apply their perceptions of dangerous
behavior to their ride-along habits, as majorities say they're ever
passengers in a car with a driver who is talking on a cell phone (63%
hands-free, 62% holding), with four in ten saying they do so often or
sometimes (41% hands-free, 39% holding).

Over four in ten Americans ever ride with a driver who's reading (45%)
or sending (41%) text messages, with roughly one-fourth saying they often
or sometimes do so (26% reading, 23% sending).

This is again an especially troubling trend among Millennials, with a
majority saying they often or sometimes ride with a driver who's talking on
a cell phone they are holding (55%), and over four in ten often or
sometimes riding with a driver who is talking on a hands-free phone (44%),
reading texts (45%) or sending texts (41%)

Smaller but still alarming percentages report that they ever ride with a
driver who's using a smartphone or tablet to look something up (36%; 19%
often/sometimes), who has been drinking (28%; 10% often/sometimes) or who
is checking or posting to social media (24%; 13% often/sometimes).

But beyond watching a driver's behavior in order to protect themselves,
should passengers have a responsibility to monitor their drivers from a
legal standpoint? Majorities of Americans appear to think not. Seven in ten
(69%) don't believe that passengers in a car should share legal
responsibility if a distracted driver causes an accident, while six in ten
(59%) say the same in the case of passengers riding with a drunk
driver.

To see other recent Harris Polls, please visit the Harris Poll News
Room.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between
March 12 and 17, 2014 among 2,234 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for
age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were
weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual
proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to
adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability
sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not
possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error,
error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording
and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore,
The Harris Poll avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading.
All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with
different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100%
response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come
close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have
agreed to participate in Harris Poll surveys. The data have been weighted
to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is
based on those who agreed to participate in our panel, no estimates of
theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National
Council on Public Polls.